29 May 2019, 21:37
Action is Eloquence
It wasn't unusual to find the Slytherin Prefect holed up in the potions room. She loved the subject- much more than she did months ago. Professor Nagal had made it exciting for her. It did baffle her that there were some students who didn't find it as intriguing. So, with free time to spare, she found herself wandering into the room, looking in awe at everything. There was not one subject, except perhaps Astronomy or Charms, that she was more passionate about. Now, she didn't make O's or anything like that- she made E's. But that was just as good! She was proud because this subject was supposed to be hard. Well, not for her!"... for in such business action is eloquence."
Alexx pulled up a chair, sitting at a random table that happened to have a student at it. She looked over at the girl- a Hufflepuff, probably a first year. She smiled and nodded at her, continuing to glance at the work she was doing. "What subject are you guys on?" She asked quietly, eyeing the work, trying to make a rough guess. Antidotes, perhaps? It was possible. Alexx remembered covering it in her first year.
She studied the girl as well. She had blonde hair- it was way more blonde than Alexx's. She was pale, too. It made Alexx wonder where she came from. So many people came to Hogwarts from many different countries. It made it exciting because everyone had a different story. For example, Alexx came from France. Of course, her story was much darker than that and had many hidden depths to it. That was just the bare bones for her. But there were others, too. Common families that sprung for Ireland. British homes that were falling apart. Muggle-born children who had spent years not knowing that a world like this was even possible. It always fascinated Alexx.
As for her, well... She always knew her place in the world. She was raised around magic. Stories of Hogwarts were told to her on late summer nights as Tex and Mikey discussed fondly things like their classes or Quidditch games. Then, one day, Tex decided he didn't want to tell those stories anymore. Mikey became more worried for him, too. So Alexx and Emaline stopped asking. And then it was up to her to tell her younger sister the wonders of Hogwarts. She got to tell her things like how great potions class was, or how much she adored her Head of House. Emaline received letter after letter from her older sister, rambling on and on about Quidditch and the likes. She simply couldn't help it. Her place in this world was always clear to her.
Snapping from her thoughts, Alexx examined the surroundings. How bleak this room was. She wished that a Professor- any Professor, would decorate it. Paint the bricks white or something. Hand up some tapestries. Make the place look more inviting. Perhaps the reason that kids seemed to struggle in this class was because the surrounding creeped them out. She couldn't blame them. Seeing spiderwebs where pictures should be was unsettling. No decorative rug, instead only hard stone to fall onto, and no flexible seating arrangement. The seats felt hard beneath her, and she recalled a time or two when one of them creaked as she fidgeted in class. Yes, that was not her favorite moment. It awoke all the sleeping children and caused a few of them to groan, and even her friend throwing a wadded piece of paper at her.
Looking back to the Hufflepuff, she tilted her head. "Are you having any trouble? I love this class, so I can help." She offered, raising her eyebrows. When had she become so damn helpful? It was certainly weird because she couldn't recall ever in her life putting others before herself. Then again, at the moment, she had nothing to do, so she may as well help someone out. So she maintained her soft smile and turned her body to be completely facing the girl. Maybe she'd get some good karma out of this.
chill babe. we're all bad in someone's story.
29 May 2019, 22:32
Action is Eloquence
Airlia was sitting in the potions room, she'd thought that a change of scenery from the library to here might help her figure all this out. The truth was that while Airlia wasn't really smart per say, she truly wasn't totally stupid either. But when it came to potions she was worse than stupid, an idiot, clueless, obtuse or hopeless even.
She had too much of a wandering mind and vivid imagination to be able to focus on something as boring and trivial as to how many times to stir the pot clockwise and how many times counterclockwise. She'd often notice that she'd be thinking of home or of Ezekiel in Durmstrang and then have a potion blow up on her or boil to a green shade when it should be yellow. She couldn't keep up with the ingredients list or when and how to add each ingredient. She didn't understand the amounts of ingredients or their weights because the measurements were different in Finland. How much was a pinch? Or a dash? She needed to constantly ask for help or just give up.
And this didn't just affect her abysmal grades, it also wrecked her social life in potions. No one wanted to partner up with her in class because no one had the patience to explain things to her or watch her close enough to make sure she didn't mess anything up.
She rubbed her temples and could already feel the coming of a major headache. With a sigh, she tried to focus again to no avail of course. Her head wouldn't work the way she wanted. Which was to of course stare at the book of Magical Drafts and Potions and just suddenly know all the answers. There was no other way for her to learn than to beg the forest gods to give her enlightenment.
Switching from the library to the potions room hadn't been a great idea either. It was far too dark here and Airlia wasn't used to the dark. In Finland, there was always light whether it was the sun or the moon reflecting from the snow it didn't matter. Day or night it was never pitch black.
It didn't help that the potions room was glum looking and brought her mood down exponentially. This room definitely was not a stimulating working environment.
Letting out an even bigger sight as if that would somehow release the dumbness from her person she stared down at her cure for boils and antidote to common potions work. This was not working out. Just as she once again thought that she could just give up since the teacher was too busy for counseling and she couldn't find a tutor anywhere in the castle a girl entered the room.
Airlia had seen and admired the girl before. She had long, blonde hair that was so straight she briefly thought that there might be a spell for straightening hair. The girl looked older than her, and Airlia couldn't remember her from any of her classes. She had big eyes that would make anyone else look like an owl but somehow as unbelievable as it was they fit this girl's heart-shaped head perfectly.
And uncaught, fleeting thought in Airlia's head wondered if perhaps the girl has veela blood in her predecessors.
Airlia noted that the girl was a Slytherin like Airlia's brother Gale had been and smiled at the girl as she asked where they were on their studies and like angel sent; if she needed any help.
Airlia let out a sight again, but this time it was happy and relieved: "Yes, please. We've studied Cure for Boils and the Antidote to Common Poisons but I am terrible at this. I was just and just able to make the cure for boils but I am failing in the antidote. I think I got some of the ingredients or their amounts wrong in my notes. Could you take a look?"
Airlia scrambled through the papers she'd layed out on the table and found her notes on the Antidote Potion. "Here." She said with a big smile, handing the girl her parchment, that had embarrassingly little written on it for being all the notes she'd taken during the whole class. "Oh, I'm Airlia Winter by the way."
- Airlia Winter; The little lady of Taika